Wednesday, June 20, 2012

British Institute: Advanced Methodology for Irish Research

This post is part of my continuing series of guest authors sharing their perspective on different courses at genealogy institutes. This one features Laurel Baty, CG writing about a course at the British Institute held each October in Salt Lake City, Utah.

A
Unique Course: Advanced Methodology for Irish Research Taught by David E.
Rencher

My first experience with Genealogy Institutes was in October
2007 when I attended David Rencher’s class, Irish Research: Sources and Methods
for Research in Ireland, at the annual British Institute in Salt Lake City. I
was a novice to Irish genealogy and learned so much during that first class and
had a wonderful experience. I have attended the British Institute annually
since 2007 and enjoyed every class I have taken. The British Institute,
sponsored by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History
[ISBGFH], offers a unique format: lectures in the morning with instructor
consultations and guided research in the afternoon at the Family History Library.
Where else can you learn about records in the morning and have hands on
research in the same records in the afternoon? The instructor consultations are
a wonderful addition to the classes.

At the British Institute in 2011 I attended Advanced
Methodology for Irish Research taught by David E. Rencher which will also be
offered in October of 2012. I highly recommend this unique class. The other
Irish classes I have taken from David Rencher were about the records of Ireland
and how to locate them [Governmental Records of Ireland in 2009 and Making the
Transition from Irish Church Records to Irish Land Records in 2010]. The
Advanced Methodology class taught us what to do with the records once we found
them and how to utilize Irish records to solve genealogical problems.

Each day was organized around a broad topic, with multiple
lectures each day:

·Monday: Strategies for a Sound Beginning

·Tuesday: Strategy and Methods to Sharpen Your
Skills

·Wednesday: Research Methodologies for Catholic
Research

·Thursday: Strategies for Scots-Irish Research

·Friday: Strategies for Church of Ireland Research

After a morning packed with lectures we headed off to the
Family History Library in the afternoon to test our new found knowledge and
consult individually with David Rencher, a world renowned expert in Irish
genealogy who also happens to be the Chief Genealogical Officer of Family Search! The consultation is worth
the cost of the class! Make sure to bring your Irish research problem—you may
topple a few brick walls.

David’s classes at the British Institute inspired me to take
three research trips to Northern Ireland and plunge into Irish research. His
classes also started me on the road to certification by the Board for
Certification of Genealogists. David will offer the class in 2012 with some
changes. Visit the ISBGFH webpage to read the course description: http://www.isbgfh.org/cpage.php?pt=7

I will be attending Tom Jones’ class, From Simple to
Complex: Applying Genealogy’s Standard of Proof to Your Work, offered for the
first time at the British Institute in 2012:. There is currently space
available in both classes as well as the two other classes being taught this
year:

·British Military, Its Regiments and Records taught
by John Kitzmiller, II

·Records and Strategies for Beginning English
Research taught by Judy Jones.

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About Me

I am a professional genealogist who focuses on genealogy education as a coordinator at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University, and at the Salt Lake Institute of
Genealogy. I served as the administrator of the ProGen
Study Program for professional genealogists for six year, and am now on the board of directors. I love learning and there is always more to study in the field of genealogy and family history.